PPR’s Redcats to Sell Brands to Nordic Fund for $364 Million

Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- PPR SA, the owner of Gucci, said one
of Swedish buyout firm Nordic Capital’s funds agreed to buy two
units of its Redcats home-shopping business, bringing proceeds
from selling the division’s parts to more than $1 billion.

The sale of the Ellos and Jotex brans for an enterprise
value of 275 million euros ($364 million) should be completed
“in the coming months,” PPR said in a statement today.
Rothschild acted as financial adviser and Vinge acted as legal
adviser to PPR in the deal, the Paris-based company said.

The company agreed in November to sell its U.S. sports and
leisure business to Northern Tool + Equipment for $215 million.
In December, it agreed to sell its OneStopPlus large-size
clothing business to two private-equity firms for $525 million.
PPR is in talks to sell Redcats’s children’s and family division
to a buyout firm for $156 million.

The value of the Jotex and Ellos transaction is in line
with expectations, said Thomas Mesmin, an analyst at CA
Cheuvreux in Paris. “Now, the real question is how much for La
Redoute,” Redcats’s biggest business that PPR also plans to
sell, he said by e-mail.

PPR will start the sales process for La Redoute in April,
Chief Executive Officer Francois-Henri Pinault said in a Feb. 15
Bloomberg TV interview. Jotex sells homewares such as curtains
and bedding online while Ellos also offers clothing and toys by
mail order.

“The sale of Ellos and Jotex will mark a further step
forward in the transformation of PPR into a global leader in
apparel and accessories within the luxury and sport & lifestyle
sectors,” PPR said in the statement.

PPR shares rose as much as 0.9 percent to 173 euros in
Paris trading and were up 0.4 percent as of 11:49 a.m.